Death's Gambit

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 83 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 83
  3. Negative: 12 out of 83

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. vaellicus
    May 19, 2020
    6
    It has a lot of potential, I played through all of it and got to the last boss of the maximum difficulty.

    The game is addictive but in the end, it is not enjoyable, you have the illusion that you are progressing and that the suffering has passed, and it is that mental trick that the game developers keep exploiting constantly. I find this kind of game deeply disturbing, because they    It has a lot of potential, I played through all of it and got to the last boss of the maximum difficulty.

    The game is addictive but in the end, it is not enjoyable, you have the illusion that you are progressing and that the suffering has passed, and it is that mental trick that the game developers keep exploiting constantly.

    I find this kind of game deeply disturbing, because they could still have made an enjoyable game, but decided to make it painful, all the way.

    If you start this game you will probably play many hours, just as if you develop a masochistic need to cut your arm... in the end, the number of hours you spend on this does not mean it is something good.    … Expand
  2. superRomex
    Aug 17, 2018
    8
    I purchases this game because of all the buzz words surrounding it; Metroid-vania, Dark Souls, and so on.
    It does not disappoint. Full disclosure, I'm 3 hours in and only stopped to write this review. Graphics remind me of Flashback or Another World. The world, game play and control are 75% Vania, and 25% Metroid. The stat system and Items are a complete copy of Dark Souls. It's not that    I purchases this game because of all the buzz words surrounding it; Metroid-vania, Dark Souls, and so on.
    It does not disappoint. Full disclosure, I'm 3 hours in and only stopped to write this review. Graphics remind me of Flashback or Another World. The world, game play and control are 75% Vania, and 25% Metroid. The stat system and Items are a complete copy of Dark Souls. It's not that hard either. 20 bucks! Great game so far.    … Expand
  3. SilverOrlov
    Dec 11, 2020
    8
    Beautiful and deep pixel art in most places. Only sometimes there are excessively bland and flat moments(like a very wide staircase at the very beginning, which looks like a stack of recumbent sleepers), so every pixel-fan will be pleased. Very nice simple music in different locations and in boss battles. The bosses themselves are varied. At least half of them are somewhat easily defeatedBeautiful and deep pixel art in most places. Only sometimes there are excessively bland and flat moments(like a very wide staircase at the very beginning, which looks like a stack of recumbent sleepers), so every pixel-fan will be pleased. Very nice simple music in different locations and in boss battles. The bosses themselves are varied. At least half of them are somewhat easily defeated by standard methods, without gimmicks(just beat him to death with one button), but each of them is unique in their style, in their history and location view. The only thing I didn't like was that instead of adding just new strong bosses for some challenge, the authors made it so that you can just go through the same bosses again, only on heroic difficulty with a minimum difference from the usual version, plus more HP bar. This "thickening" may be challenging... but not at all interesting.
    There are many interesting gameplay ideas, some of which are borrowed from the "Dark Souls". In this regard, the game lived up to its expectations and claims that "Gambit" was inspired by "Souls". Anyway, in my opinion.
    It's a pity that the game's plot is too simple. No, it is interesting and interesting to read books about bosses that give a bonus to damage against them, but in general, the plot is at the level of a very simple fantasy action movie with a rating of no more than 7 out of 10. For example, I knew how the game would end immediately after the very first words of the main antagonist about what the protagonist will face at the end. So the "staging" is very weak.
    ...
    The game actually has very few minuses, but each of them leaves a huge mark on this game:
    1) Combat mechanics. Idiotic strike animation trigger: on fast strikes it is just periodically painful in the most unfortunate moments, but the best strikes with a long "cast" always totally make you to feel this pain in your "fifth point". For example, a warrior on a long sword has an expensive strong strike, learned from a knight boss, and it's "casts" long enough to receive from everyone in your face, since it is not long enough to start a strike from afar from enemies. Mercilessly enrages that half of the strikes of all enemies can go in any direction: for example, the enemy "casts" a strong attack with a sword in one direction, you roll to another side, and BOOM! he suddenly makes his attack in your direction. WTF? What is this nonsense?! This thing breaks half of the game principle of rolling/dodging in platformer games. It also pisses me off that some enemies can simply overwhelm you with "+100 hits per second". I exaggerate, of course, a little... but for example golden guardian, or whatever he is, as a fan waving in all directions with his spear-sword. so that you just sit and think about how you want to do the same with the one, who invented that stupidity in the game.
    2) Platforming. For example, you see in front of you a wooden balk with metal plugs on the sides. It is logical, right? After all, you need to somehow close the wooden ends, and it's simply looks good. People do this in real life as well, and accordingly, jumping on that plugs, you have to get on the platform... But NO! ...these plugs refer to the background, not to the bulk. What the f *** ing? And so there are very, very many places where a character, corny, falls/does not reach/slides off, where no other game of this genre would allow itself such a wild game design fail.
    3) Personally mine: After ending a lot of games of this type, I can say with a pure heart... how the f***ng I am tired about these f***ng "new game +". Why the hell should I go through the same thing 100 times to see the same enemies only in new places, or to discover something new(it's not in that game)? When did this even become normal for games? Do you have a lack of imagination to come up with new locations, quests and adequately extend the game, albeit releasing a little later? Need a bigger challenge? ...well, there are repeated battles with bosses over there, and although I did not really like it, as I already wrote at the beginning, this is already something, and it will be interesting for "it's audience". You are going through some strict moments, but not through the whole f***ng game.
    ...
    Despite of all my criticism, the game left much more positive impressions. This game was made with love, I can feel it honestly. And it's not expensive, especially if you take it at a discount period. So yes, I advise you to give it a chance, perhaps you will be less critical of those places that pissed me off and disappointed.    … Expand
  4. BloodSoulsFan
    Aug 16, 2018
    10
    This game is fascinating and delightfully punishing. From the variety of weapon types, enemies, and unique bosses to the beautiful pixel-style art and great music, this is a phenomenal and challenging (but rewarding) game.

    Pros: -Rewarding 2D platforming and combat with a mix of abilities depending on weapon types. -Dark Souls/Bloodborne style upgrade system with seemingly little for    This game is fascinating and delightfully punishing. From the variety of weapon types, enemies, and unique bosses to the beautiful pixel-style art and great music, this is a phenomenal and challenging (but rewarding) game.

    Pros:
    -Rewarding 2D platforming and combat with a mix of abilities depending on weapon types.
    -Dark Souls/Bloodborne style upgrade system with seemingly little for each character level investment but huge improvement over course of several level increases.
    -Deep Boss and world design, with unique bosses and enemies.
    -Amazing MetroidVania-style backtracking to discover more hidden areas and harder enemies.
    -Interesting and delightful NPCs with a centralized sanctuary

    (Nitpicked) Cons:
    -Hard to tell from lack of audio and tactile (controller vibration) cues when character is hit; must rely on visual cues only.
    -Control mapping is difficult to get used to but makes sense once you do.
    -Lack of PC voice acting despite non-customized PC.    … Expand
  5. Trevor9000
    Aug 14, 2018
    10
    Such a surprising title. I Iove the game and the genre. I bought this randomly and have to say it was money well spent. Fun and very challenging game. I recently saw a review about the game being to hard. All I have to say is "Git Gud"
  6. LifeHistory
    Aug 20, 2018
    8
    Let me start by saying the game is fantastic and I doubt it at first. This is what Castlevaina+Souls would look like and it done it in a very good balanced way. Looking forward for a sequel or a game like it from those great DEVS.

    For being a 2D platform that's trying to be old style yet bring new modern way of Gameplay I found only Good thing about this game. -Good Level design.    Let me start by saying the game is fantastic and I doubt it at first. This is what Castlevaina+Souls would look like and it done it in a very good balanced way. Looking forward for a sequel or a game like it from those great DEVS.

    For being a 2D platform that's trying to be old style yet bring new modern way of Gameplay I found only Good thing about this game.

    -Good Level design.
    -Great Gameplay.
    -Really enjoyable good bosses that are unique from each other.
    -Good music.
    -Enjoyable combat.
    -A replayable game that can be finished with many different skills and class.
    -Graphics are pixeled but still pulls you to its atmosphere..
    -Balanced difficulty.

    My only complaint that every indie game is pixeled these days. Don't give me the nostalgic crap! Give me a proper graphics from now on or at least graphics like Bloodstained Ritual of the Night.

    Now some people found the difficulty is too much and some said it was piece of cake. It is different from person to person and you need to find out for your self. I myself think the difficulty is a bit hard yet really good and balanced in an enjoyable way. You will die a lot until you find a way to defeat a boss.

    There have also been bad performance complains. I myself did not have any problems the game ran fluidly on my i7 950 with R9 290.

    There also been people saying there is no variety in Armour and weapons and they all look the same. I don't find that bad in anyway because it does not matter if a weapon or armour would look different in you inventory YOU will still NOT see a difference when you Equip them because of the graphics this game uses. The developers knows that and therefore they did not even bother making different typ of Armours when you wont notice a thing at all..    … Expand
  7. AstralPlay
    Feb 4, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Relativamente incompleto, o que se vê nos trailers, "nem se sente o cheiro durante o game". Porém é um jogo divertido e com uma história boa! O sistema de classes é simples porém eficiente!… Expand
  8. Izitmee
    Aug 17, 2018
    4
    Full of bugs, awkward design decisions, invisible platforms, patched-up graphics, ice skating, clumsy controls, a rather misplaced story and a little too much Dark Souls not to feel like a 2D copy instead of an original game. Add to this a rather impressive lack of polish (audio volumes are all over the place, keyboard customization is lost when you restart, the game forces you to playFull of bugs, awkward design decisions, invisible platforms, patched-up graphics, ice skating, clumsy controls, a rather misplaced story and a little too much Dark Souls not to feel like a 2D copy instead of an original game. Add to this a rather impressive lack of polish (audio volumes are all over the place, keyboard customization is lost when you restart, the game forces you to play with your system's language with no option to change/reset it, the whole game is frame based so if you play at 120 FPS it will run at 2x speed, and on and on) and it quickly becomes an annoying experience ready to be uninstalled.… Expand
  9. BathSaltZombii
    Aug 14, 2018
    10
    No Surprise another negative review from LifeHistory who is once again wrong. The reviewer even gave Nioh an unwarranted low review. Let me just say this game is great and one of the best games I have played this year. Seems like Lifehistory only enjoyed the souls series games because they had other people come into the game and beat the bosses for them.
  10. Defoxx
    Dec 2, 2020
    2
    Картонная боевка, сама по себе игра очень скучна, не зацепила.
    Игра так же не русифицирована.
  11. TwoEars
    Oct 9, 2021
    10
    This review is for "Death's Gambit: Afterlife" (that means with the "afterlife" upgrade). So maybe it's actually a 9 score game but I'm going to give it a 10. Just because, and because it's generally underappreciated. This game is made with a lot of love, really a lot of love. The launch wasn't perfect, but the devs have been making up for it.

    If you like rogue-likes, metroidvanias,    This review is for "Death's Gambit: Afterlife" (that means with the "afterlife" upgrade). So maybe it's actually a 9 score game but I'm going to give it a 10. Just because, and because it's generally underappreciated. This game is made with a lot of love, really a lot of love. The launch wasn't perfect, but the devs have been making up for it.

    If you like rogue-likes, metroidvanias, side-scrollers, action-RPG's, souls-like games etc... this is the game you need to play right now. Really, this is the game you have to play right now. This is the game the press isn't talking about. This is the hidden gem you wanted to find and which you need to play.

    Do you like Hollow Knight? Do you like Dark Souls? Do you like Zelda? Play this game. Really, you won't be disappointed.

    The beginning is pretty slow, really slow. But you'll figure it all out, you'll get more abilities and you'll get the hang of it. Thank me later, and the devs.    … Expand
  12. OlBlueHat
    Aug 23, 2018
    10
    10/10, best souis-like I've ever played.
    While it sticks very close to the formula of what makes a "souls" game, the best parts of this game come from the way it presents its narrative beats as interactive moments. The voice acting is spot on and fills each character with life in ways that I didn't think I'd need until I heard it. The jank that people keep complaining about exists as more    10/10, best souis-like I've ever played.
    While it sticks very close to the formula of what makes a "souls" game, the best parts of this game come from the way it presents its narrative beats as interactive moments. The voice acting is spot on and fills each character with life in ways that I didn't think I'd need until I heard it. The jank that people keep complaining about exists as more of an endearment for me. Hit arcs being just off enough that they feel "cheap" harkens back to the old school days of video gaming while some mechanics will swing in your favor.

    On the whole, I haven't fallen in love with a game this deeply in a long long time and, in the end, it was worth all of the 13+ hours I've put into it. Its shorter than most games in this day and age but for the price of $20 bucks you can do a LOT worse than this game.

    While there are bugs all over the game, I never saw more than 2 that ever impacted my gaming experience in any way at all. People give the Elder Scrolls series a pat on the back for those jank moments so why not this little indie game that just recently found a publisher. I call double standard on that mess and will proudly plant my love for this game as clear and as wide to see.

    Play it if you're a fan of Dark Souls and, oddly enough, Eternal Darkness, as there are a lot of little beats that hearken to how it piece meals the story to you.    … Expand
  13. Milidante
    Sep 25, 2019
    9
    Maybe best soulslike-metroidvania. Various builds make the game precious to play over and over. Atmosphere is nice and the whole game is completely loyal to souls. Many people said best souls like 2d game is salt and sanctuary but i prefer deaths gambit. Its mire rog and more challenging
  14. Jckovacks
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    No tiene grandes pretensiones y no oculta sus inspiraciones. Es un Souls en 2d, dicho lo cual, el ser independiente le permite explotar ciertas mecánicas geniales que aún no habíamos visto (Peleas de boses memorables con control de equilibrio en el escenario, jefes finales colosales, narrativa desarrollada a través de cada muerte...)
    En lo personal, la parte " encuentros en la tercera    No tiene grandes pretensiones y no oculta sus inspiraciones. Es un Souls en 2d, dicho lo cual, el ser independiente le permite explotar ciertas mecánicas geniales que aún no habíamos visto (Peleas de boses memorables con control de equilibrio en el escenario, jefes finales colosales, narrativa desarrollada a través de cada muerte...)
    En lo personal, la parte " encuentros en la tercera fase" (por no hacer spoiler) no me convenció.
    Recomendado para amantes de los Souls y las experiencias desafiantes.
    *Puntuación con respecto al panorama independiente.    … Expand
  15. XsigmaZ
    Oct 8, 2021
    10
    So i got this game very early and it was an absolute joy to play it. several times over the years i get back to this game just to make a new character and try new speccs and stuff out. And ive been waiting for the dlc to drop for so long. And to my suprise basically every thing is improved. its like a whole new game and it is everything the old version was and so much more. Man this game is good
  16. ManHoof
    Jul 29, 2023
    6
    The game has a good plot and a good variety of enemies. Unfortunately, there are bugs that are very noticeable. Also, the game design of the locations is low. There are the same shorts everywhere. The locations are not interesting, which is why I have no desire to play the game again.

Awards & Rankings

47
#47 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 9, 2019
    70
    There are moments when Death’s Gambit is a really good game that intelligently copies Souls and the likes, but to truly enjoy it you need to accept it as a collage of inspirations which doesn’t allow original ideas to shine. [11/2018, p.74]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 31, 2018
    60
    Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has proven to all players, that it doesn´t need Hollywood faces in the story to attract players, because it’s completely fine with its online entertainment. Call of Duty is definitely going to stay with us for a couple more weeks. [Issue#290]
  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Sep 23, 2018
    80
    Death's Gambit is only a souls-like? At first glance the answer is definitely yes but it is also a lot more. White Rabbit manage to create a great but nevertheless fragile game which despite the flaws and the lapse of taste in some situations deserves your attention.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »